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I left off with my last blog entry in Nairobi. We went to this really cool restaurant called Carnivore. As the title suggests, it served all kinds of meat roasted in this big pit in the middle of the restaurant. We have similar restaurants in the US but …..do they serve ostrich meatballs? Yes–I tried ostrich meatballs and found them quite tasty until I began thinking that I was eating something I had just taken a picture of on the safari,   Then  we were off to the Nairobi airport to Amsterdam, and from Amsterdam we flew to Boston and then home.

      I have been thinking about how to end this blog.   First, I want to thank all those who supported me in this mission trip financially, with your prayers and good wishes, with textbooks, materials, technology lessons (JJ) , ideas and encouragement. I want to thank my daughter Jenny, for creating this blog and then taking my daily emails to her and putting them into this blog. This blog became very important to me, as I wrote my e-mail at the end of every day.  Not only was it a means to share with all of you  the events of the day,  but I also hoped to also give you a glimpse into the culture and people of  Kenya while keeping the focus on the purpose of the trip, which was to assist Kupenda with their mission of helping children with disablities. It also became a way for me to sort through all  the emotions that I was feeling during this time and provided me with a perfect vehicle through which to chronicle this amazing journey.

For those of you who know me well ( and for those of you who don’t) this trip represented everything that I was afraid of.  I had never been out of the country alone, heck I had never really been anywhere without someone I knew. I was afraid of bugs, spiders, most animals and of not fitting in or keeping up with a group that was significantly younger than I was and being so far away from my children. Most of all I was afraid that the workshops and my attempts to assist the teachers would be a flop and that I would not be succesful in helping  them. The one thing I was not afraid of was  the children. I loved them before I even met them and once I got to meet them I loved them even more.  That love for them and the desire to help was greater than all the fears.  So I faced all my fears and I am happy and proud to say…..” I did it”  I will never look at life  in the same way again. That’s not to say that I now love bugs, but I am not afraid of them anymore and I know that my trusty spray bottle of Listerine will do the trick.

I also want to thank our team leaders Andy and Kate Bauer. This mission trip was very well organized. The schedule kept our focus on the special needs  children with a wide variety of activities that gave us so many experiences. We also got to go out into the villages, go shopping in the marketplace and on an amazing safari. I trusted them 100% with our safety and wellbeing.

Finally, what are the next steps? Many of you have expressed an interest in helping with this cause and certainly the need is enormous and there are many ways to helpBut as Andy said, yes the need is great but things are so much better than they were 3 years ago, and with our help they will continue to move in a positive direction. The people in this area of Kenya are becoming aware that children with disabilities ” can have a good life” I have seen first hand that YES, we can make a diffence in the lives of these children. There are no laws to protect them so they depend on us. I will be communicating with Cindy Bauer ( the head of Kupenda) about ways that people can help if they are interested. If anyone would like to help in some way please let me know through this blog or my home or school e-mail.

  Check back on Thursday because we will be adding some pictures to this blog.

 So for the last time I say to all of you, “Kwaheri”

Love, Fran

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